[mobike008]

Congratulations, Jeroen!

This is absolutely wonderful and a unique ownership report. This report brought some gushing memories back as I used to be part of this industry for about 4-years during my early part of career.

I used to work with an Italian company called "Navionics" which is now bought by Garmin.

We used to do mapping for all major waterways (later roads, hiking paths, trails etc) of the world and ensure these cartridges (maps on a cartridge) is compatible with all major OEM devices like Garmin, Tom-Tom, Raymarine etc. I note you use a Raymarin device and maps I suppose is not from Garmin?

I used to manage the global alliance of these OEM organizations and used to speak this "mapping" language for the period that I was in this industry. It was a glorious time working with Italian, European and American colleagues and that stint taught me a lot about this industry.

Unrelated : I remember we plotted the entire Great Lakes which is as you know the largest fresh water inland lakes in the world. And, I never knew that one day, I will go live in Michigan and be on a boat on all the 5 Great Lakes (It was a bucket list in my life and I completed it when we used to live in Michigan).

Enjoy your new boat and look forward to hearing more of your adventures.

[maddy42]

Congrats Jeroen thats one gorgeous looking boat and it has come out well. Happy Sailing and put a note on your car saying - Gone Fishing

Do you need special license for these boats and do you have fees to park it or get the gates opened on the canals or its a part and parcel of having a yatch?

How accurate are the fish finders and how do you navigate against shallow water?

[V.Narayan]

Congratulations on your first day out - wet and happy. Please keep sharing videos and photos. this is a most unique thread on Team BHP being watched with growing interest.

[Jeroen]

Originally Posted by mobike008

I used to work with an Italian company called "Navionics" which is now bought by Garmin.

Raymarine equipment can utilize different chart makes. My previous plotter had Navionics charts! With the new kit, I decided to go with Raymarine's house chart brand, Lighthouse.

I have done quite a bit of research and I would say the consensus is that one is not necessarily better than the other. To some degree a personal preference. However, I do believe that Lighthouse is more advanced uses newer techniques and is likely to start surpassing other chart makers in due course.

Also, and this is relevant to me, the Lighthouse charts, with the correct settings, are almost identical to my paper charts, use identical symbols and so on. That is relevant to me.

Originally Posted by maddy42

Do you need a special license for these boats and do you have fees to park it or get the gates opened on the canals or is it a part and parcel of having a yacht?

In the Netherlands, you need a recreational craft license if your boat is over 15 meters long, and or capable of speeds over 20 km/h. Neither does this apply to Sirion. But of course, I do have all my recreational craft licenses, nonetheless.

You do need a license to operate the VHR Radio. Even when not using the radio, there needs to be somebody on board who is licensed to operate it. The licensing on the radio is split into two parts, the user license and the license for the boat. The boat has a unique Radio Call name, for Sirion PH9422. In addition, it has a so-called MMSI number and an ATIS number. MMSI is related to using the Radio in so-called "sea mode" and ATIS is used for inland waterways.

There is no formal requirement to have a VHF radio on board Sirion. But when you do, you must have the appropriate paperwork, licenses and registration. Also, on certain waterways, if you have a radio, you have a formal obligation to listen to the appropriate channel and respond to relevant calls!

Radio channels at sea and inland waterways are used differently. Also, on inland waterways, you are supposed to use only 1W transmission power. The VHF radio will automatically adjust the power output when needed.

Just as an example, at sea, the general channel is VHF channel 16. On inland waterways, it is VHF channel 10. So a Mayday is broadcast on channel 16 at sea, but on channel 10 on inland waterways.

Also, most VHF radios are equipped to handle DSC calling in sea mode. Extremely useful as it allows you to put out a Mayday alert, with literally, one push of a button! Does not work on inland waterways.

Calling name, MMSI and ATIS are unique and are assigned, registered and licensed to a particular boat.

You might recall I also purchased a mobile handheld VHF radio. It gets the same calling name, MMSI and ATIS and is registered to Sirion as well. You are not supposed to use it on other boats, I can use it on a tender (but I don't have one!)

As of the 1st of January, new VHF channel allocations became mandatory. The so-called VDES requirements. One of the problems with my old VHF radio was it could not be updated to these new requirements. Technically that means you are breaking the law and can be fined!

Confused, well even within the EU the rules on boat and radio licensing differ country by country.

And of course, Sirion needed to have a formal CE compliance certificate. See my first posts, as she did not have such a certificate, so the previous owner had to get her re-certified!

Originally Posted by maddy42

How accurate are the fish finders and how do you navigate against shallow water?

I don't know yet. I have not used a fish finder yet. But I expect it to be pretty accurate up to 10-15 meters easily. My fishfinder is a very fancy one. I can do 3D side, forward and rear scans! A nuclear sub has a less sophisticated sonar technique than Sirion. I will get some screenshots of this sonar and its pinging (Because that is how it works, just like sonar on a sub!)


About navigating in shallow water: the short answer is you do it with extreme caution.

Obviously, I use charts and an almanac. Talk to other sailors who are familiar with these waters is important too.

Here in the Netherlands, all major waterways will have excellent guidance with buoys. You have to learn the system of course. These buoys are also shown on the chart in my plotter. As long as I stick to being between the buoys I should be good.

Here you see an image from yesterday 4 hour trip:



You see Sirion and just above near the green buoy you see 2,6. Which means 2,6 meters in depth. But a little further up from there, you will see 0,9 which means 90 cm. Sirion draft is 90 cm!!

So it is a combination of eyes out, looking for the buoys, checking your position in the chart and the plotter (which uses GPS) And keeping a very close eye on the depth finder!


I also managed to get the remote control of the auto-pilot going. Just needed a set of new batteries. I showed it to Michael and asked if it would work with the new system. He confirmed, so I got some batteries. I can now control Sirion rudder from anywhere on the boat! Pretty cool and handy!!

Originally Posted by V.Narayan

Congratulations on your first day out - wet and happy. Please keep sharing videos and photos. this is a most unique thread on Team BHP being watched with growing interest.

Thank you for those encouraging words. Much appreciated. I suspect I will add to this thread at least once a week, if not more for months to come!!


Yesterday I spent a couple of hours on Sirion with Michael. He has installed all the new Raymarine kit. So we went over all the basic functions. Michael knows Sirion inside out, as he has worked on her for many years. So he also helped me figure out a couple of other things that were not clear to me. (e.g. the battery solar charge versus 220 V inverter system).

This is what is all new. There is more, some components don't show.



Slowly but surely I am beginning to become a little confident.

I spend almost 4,5 hours sailing. Gorgeous weather. Fource 3-4, very sunny, easterly wind, so quite nippy. But with the sun and the heating on, it was very cosy inside Sirion's main cabin!!



I came across the huge floating factory. Not sure what it is, it is not a regular dredger. I think it is used to suck up sand from the bottom of the lake.





Sirion has two flagpost. One at the stern, which is reserved for the Dutch flag.

At the bow, she has a smaller flagpost. Professional ships tend to fly their company flag from it. Recreational crafts often fly the pennant from their home marina.

I could not find the flagpole to fit the one at the bow. I did find an old flagpole in one of the lockers. I took it home, to make it fit and revarnish it.

The first thing was to strip all the old varnish and reshape the end as it was too thick to fit in the flagpole holder.



I made this sort of makeshift wood lathe, using my grinding wheel and a clamp. The vacuum hose is fixed to my bicycle repair stand.



Worked well!! However, I had set my calliper to the wrong dimension, so I turned it to a too-small diameter. Luckily I found a piece of plastic pipe, cut it lengthwise and that makes up the difference once again!!



By now I am applying the 5th coat of varnish. Beginning to look pretty good!!



I have finally, with Michael's help found all relevant online documentation for my Raymarine kit. I have downloaded all the manuals. I am going to get them all printed out. I want my manuals on paper!! Not on a screen!! You would think Raymarine could afford to give you a proper paper manual, at the sort of prices they charge for their kit. But no, everything is digital and you would not believe how many different manuals are listed on their website.

This coming Monday, Mrs D and I will visit Sirion. We have invited Ad (previous owner) and Andre (broker and harbourmaster) for a little ceremony. We have enjoyed working with them. So we are going to have a little handover ceremony before we sail Sirion away to her new birth in Arkel.

Jeroen

[ashkamath]

Jeroen, I was here on Team-BHP looking in the Motorcycle Helmet section for recommendations to buy a new helmet for my Yamaha Aerox maxi-scooter and thereafter, I just chanced to glance through the new posts and came across your post "I bought yacht...". That was about 2 hours ago and I enjoyed every moment reading through your post, slowly, savoring every bit of it. I went back, read some again, expanded the images for closer view and I took it real slow.

I am a Marine Hull Surveyor at Goa and boats are my passion, profession, bread, butter and jam, and it's been over 3-1/2 decades in this profession. As a surveyor, my professional engagements includes surveys onboard Ocean going vessels, Barges, Yachts, fishing vessels,small water crafts including waverunners, sports fishing vessels etc. Anything and everything about water crafts interests me and I must say that you took me on an amazing journey.

Your vessel appears to be in fantastic condition, thanks to your passion and intense efforts in working on her to keep her shipshape. Your narration and story telling is very engaging to say the least. It was quite a learning experience to understand the various licensing requirements for a vessel to sail in Europe. I am so amazed to read how well organised you are and how judiciously you follow all the necessary rules and regulations. Thank you for educating me.

The requirements for navigational equipments are similar in Goa, India too. The chart plotter / fish finder, VHF, AIS, are mandatory. Bow thrusters are a rarity here. Strict rules are in place for disposal of black water. Suzuki / Yamaha OBMs and Mercruiser / Volvo penta stern drive inboards are in numbers. Yanmar not much. However Yanmar are good reliable engines too. We don't have good Marinas as we find them in Europe, though Goa Govt has identified some as a possible location for a Marina. We could see some progress in this regard in coming days.

Well, SIRIAN is simply beautiful. Enjoy her company. Looking forward to be part of an exiting journey on SIRIAN with you and Mrs D through this forum. Be safe. Stay blessed.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Jeroen, I mentioned before that I have a VHF ship's radio operator licence. I got in in 1980s.

You mentioned that you had had one before, but it was good to keep up to date. Certainly looks like it: Almost everything you mention is completely new to me!

Most of the stuff in your wheel house means very little to me. Electronic plotting was coming into being, back then, but most just used paper and tradition. Fish finders existed, but only fishing craft would have them. Echo sounders were well established. Of course, radar was too, but very uncommon on anything other than very large sailing yachts. I once sailed with it, on a motor sailor, and found it very impressive to watch as more-experienced crew got a little confused entering Dover harbour. Oh, there was a thing called Satnav: none of us dreamed that we would be carrying a far more sophisticated version around in our pockets a few decades later!

Do you have an actual magnetic compass on board? Do you have a "hand bearing compass?" Maybe there isn't much need for one on inland waters.

[ashkamath]

Originally Posted by ashkamath

Well, SIRIAN is simply beautiful. Enjoy her company. Looking forward to be part of an exiting journey on SIRIAN with you and Mrs D through this forum. Be safe. Stay blessed.

Hi Jeroen, I am extremely sorry for spelling your yacht name wrong. It's SIRION. My bad. Your SIRION is simply beautiful. Enjoy her company. Looking forward to be a part of an exciting journey onboard SIRION with you and Mrs D through this forum. Be safe. Stay blessed. Be happy.

[Jeroen]

Originally Posted by ashkamath

I am a Marine Hull Surveyor at Goa

The requirements for navigational equipments are similar in Goa, India too. The chart plotter / fish finder, VHF, AIS, are mandatory. Bow thrusters are a rarity here. Strict rules are in place for disposal of black water.

Thank you. Nice to know we have a professional Marine surveyor on the forum.
It might come as a surprise but the chart plotter, fish finder, VHF and AIS are not mandatory for Sirion. For a boat like Sirion all you need is a set of updated charts of the area and an almanac, fully updated, with all waterway rules and regulations. Nothing else is required. You can have it in paper or digital format. In case of the latter it must all b fully downloaded on your phone/tablet/laptop.

It might come as a further surprise that despite having all this wonderful electronic kit on board, I am still not allowed to sail Sirion in poor visibility (fog) conditions. To do so you need a certified rader. Which not only costs at least 5 -10 times what I paid for mine. Its radar antenna will be much larger, usually at least 1,5 meter.

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

Most of the stuff in your wheel house means very little to me. Oh, there was a thing called Satnav: none of us dreamed that we would be carrying a far more sophisticated version around in our pockets a few decades later!

Yes, technology has come a very long way. But not to worry, I am still on the lookout for a sextant too. Just so I can check my GPS accuracy.

Do you have an actual magnetic compass on board? Do you have a "hand bearing compass?" Maybe there isn't much need for one on inland waters.

No magnetic compass. As you mentioned, there is very little need for a magnetic compass sailing on inland water ways. My binoculars do have a built-in magnetic compass to take bearings. Taking bearings is still relevant also on inland water ways.

I do like magnetic compasses and I might get myself one in due course.

I always firmly believe that you need to proficient in using as many different navigation techniques as possible. Which also means you have to keep using them all.

So I tend to run the radar all the time, just to keep myself familiarised with it. Running a radar even in good weather makes good sense. You need to learn yourself on what a radar screens looks like. Best to practice with good visibility you can easily correlate what your eyes see outside to how it shows on the screen.

According to all maritime laws, the captain/skipper needs to use all resources at his/her disposal to ensure a safe passage. So if you are in an accident, good weather and visibility, you will be questioned as to whether you were using the radar too. If so, what settings etc.

Radar and AIS can not only present an alarm when you are on a collision course, it can track multiple targets all in real time and provide resolutions for each situation.

I still need to figure out all of these different functionalities on all my electronic kits. Will take many hours. But just as if I was flying my plane, using all this kit must become total second nature. If not you find yourself heads down looking at screens all the time. Not safe, not on a plane or a boat!

Originally Posted by ashkamath

Hi Jeroen, I am extremely sorry for spelling your yacht name wrong. It's SIRION. My bad.

No problem at all. These things happen.

Jeroen

[Theyota]

Originally Posted by ashkamath

I am a Marine Hull Surveyor at Goa and boats are my passion, profession, bread, butter and jam, and it's been over 3-1/2 decades in this profession.

The requirements for navigational equipments are similar in Goa, India too. The chart plotter / fish finder, VHF, AIS, are mandatory.

Team-bhp truly has interesting professions among its members. About equipment requirements in India, are you talking about deep sea going boats above a certain size? There are people sailing around in inland water ways and near shore in developed world only with a hand held VHF for communication and depth sounders to avoid running aground. No AIS, no Chartplotter, nothing! There is no way these can be mandatory in India.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by Jeroen

Yes, technology has come a very long way. But not to worry, I am still on the lookout for a sextant too. Just so I can check my GPS accuracy.

Ahh... that time when the skipper thought we'd do a little sextant practice. He had done, and would do again, ocean sailing, but was out of practise, and the rest of us knew little.

Turned out we were somewhere around Harrow/Wembley. But, visual confirmation showed an awful lot of water all around us, so we were, as we thought, probably in the Southern North Sea. Nobody said, "But my calculations show... Look harder, the North Circular Road can't be far away!"

Originally Posted by Theyota

Team-bhp truly has interesting professions among its members. About equipment requirements in India, are you talking about deep sea going boats above a certain size? There are people sailing around in inland water ways and near shore in developed world only with a hand held VHF for communication and depth sounders to avoid running aground. No AIS, no Chartplotter, nothing! There is no way these can be mandatory in India.

It amazes me, when I go in a tourist launch, that people can find their way across and around Kerala's Vembanad Lake, with no navigational aids at all. Even when the weather is 100% clear, one patch of coconut shore looks, to me, pretty much like any other. They can do very well in darkness even.

But, as to rules... the first thing one notices, if out in the dark, is the lights. Or the complete absence of them. The small fishing boats have none; the larger ones have them, but they are nowhere near according to the international requirements. There are precise angles for visibility of the red and green side lights: those boats have lights that can be seen all around.

I asked a Merchant navy skipper (huge cargo ships) about bringing a ship into a place like Kochi. He just said, it's a nightmare.

[ashkamath]

Originally Posted by Theyota

. No AIS, no Chartplotter, nothing! There is no way these can be mandatory in India.

Yes. The above mentioned navigational equipments/ tools are mandatory on sea going fishing vessels and not on inland watercrafts. Chart plotter/ Fish finder, GPS, VHF, AIS are mandatory. Recently vessels are getting equipped with SatNav too.

The Yachts in Goa are generally used for tourism / rental purpose more and less as a personal pleasure craft. Many vessels are registered under sports fishing category as it's deemed easier to get a sports fishing license from fisheries department compared to the Yacht licence issued by Captain of Ports.

As the yachts (not all, but a small number) that ply on sports fishing license are supposed to have angling rods / fishing gears and the vessel is expected to be equipped with fish finder/ chart plotter. AIS is not mandatory as these vessels ply inland waters and are not licenced to ply beyond certain distance. For example, a parasailing vessel or a speed boat has a plying limit of 1 nautical mile from the coast while a fishing vessel has a plying limit of 50 nautical miles.

So, with Yachts licenced to ply as Sports fishing vessel, when an official/ compliance officer from the department boards the vessel for inspection/survey, their check list includes Fish finder / GPS/ VHF as the list is a bit similar to that for a commercial fishing vessel. It's a different matter that these vessels are neither designed nor suitable for the intended purpose (sports fishing).

On the outset, yes. The Navigational equipments mentioned by you are not mandatory for yachts in India. However some of these vessels are equipped with them.

[Thad E Ginathom]

I don't know what the current situation is in UK (Jeroen might!) but Brits used to cleave hard to the idea that Brittania rules the waves; Britains never never never shall be slaves and they were/are free to take to sea in anything that floats. This freedom included all and everything private up to a certain size or carrying capacity. There was no law to stop one crossing the channel in a sailing dingy. However, things on the other side of that channel were very different, with different classes of boat having strict limits.

Of course, maritime/international law and custom still applied.

I'd guess that there is a far higher chance of being caught for violation of a traffic zone in the English Channel than there is on an Indian road

[Jeroen]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

I don't know what the current situation is in UK (Jeroen might!) but Brits used to cleave hard to the idea that Brittania rules the waves; Britains never never never shall be slaves and they were/are free to take to sea in anything that floats. This freedom included all and everything private up to a certain size or carrying capacity.
Of course, maritime/international law and custom still applied.

Although I am not a hundred percent sure, I believe the same principle still applies and is not just the British. I can cross over to the UK in any boat I like. As long as it is under a certain size there are no requirements on either the boat or the crew. Lots of people are still crossing the ocean in rowing dinghies!

You do need to adhere to the relevant maritime rules that apply to all vessels as you mentioned E.g. who goes first, how to cross a traffic channel and so on.

We went over the Sirion today with a car full of more stuff.

Mrs. D pottered happily in the galley and the forward cabin, getting everything sorted.





We had invited Ad, the former owner and Andre, the shipbroker/harbour master at 11.00 AM to thank them for making the whole purchase process, very constructive and enjoyable.

We did a formal little handover and re-launch ceremony, which as per maritime tradition involves some bubbles! Hopefully, the mods will allow me this one-time indiscretion of showing an actual bottle and glasses. My wife was particularly pleased having found these plastic champer glasses.



We took Sirion out one more time. My wife had not sailed on her. And she knows how to steer a boat!!

All hands, all hands, hear this: Mrs. D has the conn!!



The weather was not nice, rainy, cold and grey.



Not much to see. All the better to test out all my new electronic navigation kit of course!!



I will probably visit Sirion one more time this week. Coming Monday we are starting the 2-3 day journey to her home part, Asperen. Just across the river Linge from where we live!!

Jeroen

[dailydriver]

Living in a landlocked town and not being too fond of water, had I not read through this thread, I would have remained ignoramus about sea going personal vehicles - small or big. Thank you Jeroen for taking us where very few previous write-ups have taken us. This is one voyage I will be following very keenly.

Congratulations on the yacht. Hope you will have a good time in each other's company.

Can you throw some light on how does one wash the exteriors of the yacht and clean the interiors? Is it done regularly? If so, by whom?

Are there risks of break ins when parked?

Originally Posted by ashkamath

I am a Marine Hull Surveyor at Goa and boats are my passion, profession, bread, butter and jam, and it's been over 3-1/2 decades in this profession. As a surveyor, my professional engagements includes surveys onboard Ocean going vessels.

Thanks for writing about your profession. Posts like this and articles like this make us realise how little we know!





@ashkamath, pray tell us more about how does one become a marine surveyor? What are the academic and training requirements?

[Jeroen]

Originally Posted by dailydriver

Can you throw some light on how does one wash the exteriors of the yacht and clean the interiors? Is it done regularly? If so, by whom?

All cleaning is and will be done by me and Mrs D.

Exterior: This boat is made of polyester. So cleaning is relatively easy, Essentially hosing it down, sometimes a light scrub with some cleaning fluid.

The polyester needs to be polished and waxed now and then as well. Usually done during the annual winter period when the boat is out of the water. I could do it myself as I have all the tools from my cars of course.

The underwater part of the hull needs to be painted with anti-fouling paint. Again, you can do it yourself.

Sirion anti-fouling is in very good condition. As she sails in fresh water mostly the anti-fouling might last 2-3 years easily. If you keep your boat in salt water, you are likely to have to redo it every year.

The deck in the open cockpit and various other wooden bits on the cabin are made of teak wood. It is completely untreated. Not sure if I will leave it that way or put something on it. I have not decided yet.

Inside the boat, it is cleaning like a normal inside space. We have wooden floors. Regular cleaning means dusting, hoovering, mopping and so on.

There is quite a bit of wood on various parts of the interior as well. At some point in time that will need a bit of T&C. Which means sanding and lackering. Again, yours truly with the help of the wonderful Mrs D will do all of this.

Boats, even simple polyester ones need a lot of upkeep!

Originally Posted by dailydriver

Are there risks of break ins when parked?

That is a good question. I have checked with my insurance, because I was a bit worried about this. The problem is that boats rarely, if ever, have good locks on the doors. Sirion does have a lock in the door, but it is all pretty flimsey.

However, it seems that break inns are pretty rare. Part of it is because these days almost all marina's have closed off jetty's and pontoons. So it is not so easy to get to the boats. Also, almost all marina's will have harbour masters and CCTV.

When we bring Sirion home in a few days we will be mooring in a small town known as Breukelen. Not an official marina. There are just a couple of moorings along the river in the middle of the centre. Your boat is a bit more open to the general public.

What does get stolen are dinghies and in particular outboards! If you have one, it will push up your insurance premium considerably and the outboard has to be kept indoors!

Originally Posted by dailydriver

womens-firsts/pooja-chathoth-india-first-female-ship-surveyor

Thanks for sharing this article. When I graduated in 1978 from Naval College we had one (1) female student amongst some 700-800 male students! I know the ratio has improved considerably, but women are still vastly underrepresented in the merchant navy. Especially in the technical professions. You are more likely to find a female officer on the bridge than in the engine room.

I will be interested in Ashkamath answer as to how to become a surveyor. In the west, the route is almost if not always through naval college and a number of years of merchant navy.

The harbour master Andre, the technical inspector Koen and the Surveryor Rens that all were involved in the purchase of Sirion all went through Naval College!


I went to spend a couple of hours on Sirion yesterday. She had been moved because she needed to filled up with water prior to fixing a few small things.



Andre had fixed the last two remaining outstanding items. He needed Sirion in the water and her water tank filled. The shower pump is working now. He also rewired the heater's electrical power as well. During the survey, we noticed that the heater would lose power when we shut down the main electrical switches. However, the heater is not allowed to power down immediately. When it is switched off it needs to cycle through a cool down program. So now it is wired outside the main switches.

We also discovered a small leaking coupling on one of the freshwater pipes during the survey. Needed a new washer and some tightening. But we needed water in the tank to test.

Here you see the hot water boiler which is situated under one of the floorboards in the main cabin. It was one of these couplings that was leaking. So I powered the hydrophore pump and all stayed dry. Notice the bilge pump?

The boiler can be heated electrically but is also heated by the engine cooling water with the engine running.



This marina has pretty nifty shore power arrangements.







Sirion has three large batteries and an inverter for 220 VAC / 50 Hz. But with shore power I don't need the batteries, in fact, the batteries will get and or remain charged.

I have two propane bottles for our cooker. Not sure where I will keep the spare bottle though.



Cleaning out the locker. As Andre and his team had washed down Sirion they had used these various clothes and cleaning equipment. I left everything out to dry a bit. Unfortunately, after an hour or so it started to rain again. Will have to wait for a sunny day.



Some last checks on the engine. I topped up the cooling liquid and checked the inlet water filter.



Michael also came onboard. We had some paperwork to sort. I had a bunch of question on the operation of my new kit. We also did a bit of trouble shooting. One of the battery charge indicators does not work. I am not too worried. I can still see the charge on another controller too.

So we opened up the panel on the steering stand and investigated. There is no 12 VDC, so we started tracing the wire, but had to stop. It is not a complicated job, but it is very time consuming. So I will have a go at it once Sirion is at her home port.

I have been very busy planning our route back home. Using various planning apps, charts, almanacs and various other means. (e.g. talking to other boaters)

I mentioned it before. Our route is about 114 km and we will need to pass some 46 bridges and 11 locks! I have made a list of all locks and bridges where we need to contact the relevant authorities to operate them for us. I have checked all the respective operation hours of each lock and bridge.

There are 5 which you have to call 24 hours in advance, because they are not permanently manned. These days a lot of locks and bridges are remotely operated. But especially on small rivers, locks and bridges that belong to councils are often still manually operated. And you need an operator onsite!



If we miss our agreed timeslot, we might get stuck for 24 hours before we can get a new bridge opening. So we have to make sure we get there in time. We have decided to drive up to Sirion on Sunday after dinner. We will get everything ready and tidy and sleep for the first time on her.

We aim to cast off at about 06-06.30 AM for the big push home.

Everything is ready for it!!



Jeroen